Chapter 384: The Little Scholar in Male Disguise and the Amazing Emperor 41

Li Yuanlang never betrayed Cha Jiu.

The previous estrangement between the two was just a show put on for the Prime Minister and the Minister of Revenue.

The purpose is to make them relax their vigilance and think they have the initiative.

Li Yuanlang knelt beside Cha Jiu and said in a low and serious voice: "Master He, no matter what, you are the wise and strategic Master He in my heart."

He didn't care whether Cha Jiu was a boy or a girl.

What he recognized was only Cha Jiu himself.

Cha Jiu nodded slightly to him and smiled very faintly.

Yelu Zongzheng smiled coldly at the prime minister: "Take a good look at the numbers in the account book yourself."

The prime minister suppressed his panic, crawled a few steps forward, and looked through the account book on the ground.

Sure enough, Li Yuanlang did not modify the account book at all.

It clearly reflects every piece of embezzlement he has done from the previous dynasty to the present. The last page also lists the total amount, which is as much as 3 million taels!

Looking at the prime minister who was sweating profusely, Yelu Zongzheng said in a grim tone: "My dear minister He has been checking accounts day and night, and even confiscated the property of several corrupt officials, and only then was he able to recover more than one million taels of silver. Now that the salt and iron are operated by the government, the people's taxes have also increased due to the abundant water conservancy harvest, so the national treasury is only filled with more than eight million taels. But the amount of corruption by you alone can actually catch up with half of the national treasury. You are really greedy and audacious!"

The prime minister still wanted to make excuses.

After all, there is only one account book, and there is room for debate.

He attributed the flaws in the accounts entirely to the mistakes of the deceased account-changer, hoping to exonerate himself by framing a dead person.

Unexpectedly, the wife of the man who changed the account came to the palace to testify on behalf of her dead husband.

"The change in the account was not due to my husband's negligence, but was caused by Prime Minister Song's coercion behind the scenes!"

The lady pointed tremblingly at the prime minister who was still making excuses, and was filled with grief and indignation at his shameless act of slandering her deceased husband.

At first, no one took this lady seriously.

What value does the testimony of a woman in the backyard have other than a few empty words?

But later, the lady actually described her husband's methods of falsifying accounts one by one, and her level of professionalism and detail was no less than that of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue!

Cha Jiu saw that she had a solid foundation, so he asked, "You are proficient in accounting arithmetic?"

The lady nodded and said, "I was born in a merchant family and learned accounting and arithmetic since I was a child. My husband and I were childhood sweethearts and I taught him the art of accounting."

Li Yuanlang was surprised.

He reviewed the account books with Cha Jiu and naturally understood how skilled the person who altered the accounts was.

But I didn't expect that this skill was learned from his wife!

Alas! Such a talented woman is confined to the inner chamber, where her talent is wasted and she remains unknown.

How sad!

What the lady said matched the traces of changes in the original account book one by one, and clearly indicated where each embezzled amount went.

The Prime Minister’s faction.

Now that there was evidence, the prime minister looked ashen and could not utter a single word in defense.

Yelu Zongzhen sent people to take him to the Dali Temple.

But at this time, some court officials were still unwilling to let Cha Jiu go, and they knelt down and requested that she and He Yanyang be executed together.

These people were all ministers who had been offended by Cha Jiu when he implemented administrative reforms.

Now seeing this good opportunity, they will naturally take advantage of the situation and take the opportunity to take revenge.

But under the intimidation of Yelu Zongzhen's extremely terrifying eyes, they all became silent, lowered their heads and shrank back.

A bunch of cowardly and incompetent people.

How dare you ask me to execute my baby!

But Cha Jiu knew very well that she couldn't let Yelu Zongzheng forgive her so easily.

Otherwise, she would really become a person who undermines the laws of the country and disrupts the government.

It would also cast a black spot on Yelu Zongzhen's otherwise upright imperial career.

So she knelt down again to plead guilty.

"I know that I have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, and I dare not evade punishment. However, my brother and sister-in-law are innocent and did not know about it. I beg Your Majesty to spare their lives for the sake of the imperial edict of pardon."

"I, He Qingqing, am willing to plead guilty and go to jail, awaiting trial."

"But I still want to advise Your Majesty to open girls' schools in the future, allowing women to take the imperial examinations and enjoy the same opportunities as men to serve the Yuan Dynasty as officials. In this way, the good intentions of God will not be in vain, and the real talents will not be wasted."

"I promise you."

Yelu Zongzheng felt extremely pained.

But he also knew her intention to join the game and set a precedent for women all over the world.

He also knew that she was willing to accept punishment in order to protect his good reputation.

He couldn't say anything to stop her choice. All his emotions turned into internal strength, and he crushed the handle of the dragon chair into powder, which floated to His Highness.

The ministers were terrified and bowed their heads.

Only Cha Jiu raised his head, staring at the king with a smile in his eyes.

He said in a loud voice: "May your majesty's prosperous age last forever without worries."

Yelu Zongzheng understood.

What she said was, May the prosperous era last forever and may Your Majesty have no worries.

…

Cha Jiu was stripped of his official robes and taken to the Dali Temple along with the prime minister.

What happened in the court seemed to have wings and quickly flew into the ears of the people.

So on the way to the escort that day, Cha Jiu was surrounded by common people with red eyes, and his hands were stuffed with all kinds of food and daily necessities.

The elderly woman stuffed her cotton shoes with cotton and wiped her tears, saying, "Master He, it's very cold in prison. You must wear these cotton shoes to keep warm."

The enthusiastic aunt held the bowl and trotted after her, stuffing the cooled wontons into her mouth.

"Eat more! Eat more! These are all fresh meat fillings that my aunt chopped early in the morning!"

The pork seller wrapped a piece of halved pig's trotter that was big enough to kill a person in oil paper and threw it directly into the prison van.

"My dear sister, I don't have anything to give you. This pig's trotter can be eaten, but if it's not, it's a piece of junk that can be used to smash the money of corrupt people. Don't be lenient!"

The escorting guard was squeezed so hard that he could not stand. His feet were almost off the ground and he was floating in the air. He helplessly asked Cha Jiu for help:

"Master He, can you please let us stay away from this road? The car can't move!"

This is no exaggeration.

Looking ahead, the entire street ahead was blocked by the people who were seeing them off.

Cha Jiu opened his hands like trumpets and shouted, "Thank you all for your warm farewell, but I am only going to the Dali Temple for temporary detention, not to be executed..."

There's no need to go through the ten-mile farewell thing. It makes me feel like I won't live to see tomorrow...

Someone in the crowd shouted, "It doesn't matter! Mr. He! When you go to the execution ground some other day, we will escort you again!"

Cha Jiu: “…”

Thanks, but no thanks.

I hope that day never comes.